Arizona Lithium’s $13m raise to drive Big Sandy lithium development

Investors have demonstrated their confidence in Arizona Lithium and its Big Sandy lithium project by backing a $13m private placement.

The company has received firm commitments from the institutional and professional investors for the placement priced at 7.5c per share that includes one free attaching option exercisable at 12c each and expiring a year from the date of issue for every two new shares.

Proceeds from the placement will be used by Arizona Lithium (ASX:AZL) to design and construct the research facility to process material from Big Sandy and fast-track metallurgical test work that supports the preparation of a processing flow sheet.

Exploration drilling is now fully funded and will begin immediately after US Bureau of Land Management approval is received.

“We are delighted with the strong support received from investors for the capital raise, with AZL now well-funded to fast track the sustainable development of the Big Sandy lithium project, and capitalise on the increasing demand for lithium, as the world continues to shift towards an electric future,” managing director Paul Lloyd said.

“With metallurgical testing continuing at Hazen, and further drilling planned at Big Sandy with the aim of further expanding the existing resource, it is an exciting time for all AZL stakeholders.”

Current activity and the Big Sandy project

The company’s extended, ongoing bench-scale and concurrent demonstration plant design program at Hazen has already produced battery-grade lithium carbonate while demonstrating very encouraging beneficiation results.

A scalable, continuous demonstration plant design will also be developed to enable additional technology development, testing of different ore types, and in support of project financing requirements

This work will be used to develop a flowsheet and form a design basis for a full-scale operation with minimal environmental impact, to bring Big Sandy into commercial production.

Arizona Lithium is also waiting on BLM approval before starting its exploration program of 145 holes and bulk sampling to increase resources.

Big Sandy currently has a resource of 32.5 million tonnes grading 1,850 parts per million lithium, or 320,800 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent.

Highlighting just how much potential there is at the project, this covers just 4% of the ground it covers, which has a conceptual exploration target of between 271.1Mt and 483.15Mt grading between 1,000ppm and more than 2,000ppm lithium.

Big Sandy also positions the company strongly to capitalise on the shift towards clean energy in the US, especially given the government’s commitment towards supporting domestic production of critical metals.

This article was developed in collaboration with Arizona Lithium, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.